About Yen Kai

Yen Kai the spend-thrifter loves to eat, drink, travel and spend save money. He's always pondering on ideas to solve the little problems of everyday living (what to eat, where to go, what to buy, how to save money etc.) and shares them here on this blog.

Wireless Microphones used to cost a bomb. Thanks to advancement in technology, all things wireless cost a fraction of what they used to. I got hold of a Wireless Mic for just 89 Yuan (S$18), and it’s the set with a mini stand. It worked right out of the box. Two pieces of AA batteries as well as a 1/4″ to 3.5mm stereo plug adapter are included. No audible noise. Happy.

If your old folks are the Karaoke loving type, this would make a nice (and cheap but not cheap looking) gift. The lowest end one (the one i got) uses slightly cheap feeling plastic, but you can choose the higher end metallic one for just a bit more.

No, you don’t want your plants to die when you go on extended holiday. That’s why i got hold of an automatic plant watering system from Taobao. Yes, it sounds like a fun project to DIY, but, why waste precious time when you can just buy one for only 89 Yuan (S$18.6)?

If you have been buying gadgets and appliances from Taobao, you invariably run into the problem that i do – you keep running out of plug adaptors.

China’s power plug configuration is usually the same two pin type used in the US, but sometimes they also use the 3 pin type used in Australia. For either case, the universal to UK 3 pin plug adaptor pictured below will work. Most of us will intuitively buy such an adaptor from the typical neighbourhood homeware shop, since it usually doesn’t cost much (probably S$2 to $3 per piece). However, if you need lots of them (and you do if you’re a frequent Taobao shopper), you might as well buy them from Taobao. Buy lots, one shot. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – power transformer and plug adaptor

A projector is no match to the ultra large (60″+) 4K TVs we have today, but it’s far cheaper. Also, a projector can easily scale beyond 100″ to give you the big screen experience. Projectors no longer cost a bomb like they used to, if you source from Taobao.

There’s nothing quite like this quaint product. The brand name – 洒哇地卡 (which they abbreviate as SWDK) sounds like the Thai “hello” greeting. A silly brand name if you ask me. But, the product actually works! It cleans the floor by wiggling the attached cleaning pads back and forth. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – Floor wiggle cleaner

Years ago, the spin mop was seen as revolutionary in making it much less tiring to remove dirt from a mop as well as wringing out water. However, it still didn’t make it any easier to actually mop the floor. Only the part of the mop that is pressed against the floor is effective in picking up dirt, whereas the loose strings just make the surrounding area slightly wet. Since the contact surface area is very small, it would take a long time to cover the entire space.

A Smart-home setup is all the rage these days. I say this because i have two friends who have done-up their new homes with Smart-home features. It is not exaggerating to say that a Smart-home is synonymous with Broadlink (a Chinese Tech company), at least in this part of the world, because their products are the most accessible and popularized ones. There are many sources for Broadlink products, but Taobao is likely the cheapest one for obvious reasons.

I bought the RM Mini 3 during the Singles (11.11) day promotion, and it was only 60 Yuan (S$12.50). Including shipping, it was probably under S$15 overall. I recently also got hold of the SP3 plug during the CNY promotion, and it was only 39 Yuan (S$8.15). I noticed that the official Broadlink store on Taobao often run out of stock during the promotional period. Either that, or, for some reason, they would withdraw items from sale on their store. Thankfully, other stores on Taobao would match their pricing, and that was how i managed to get the SP3. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – Broadlink Smart-home devices

I was looking for a USB charger primarily for use with my Intel Compute Stick. I basically did an exhaustive search on Taobao looking for a USB charger that could supply 3A on a single USB port, and believe it or not, it was hard to come by.

Just about all the USB chargers offered have a maximum cap on the current output of its individual USB ports (2.4A is quite common) despite being able to supply more than 3A overall. It was distressing trying to find what i needed, but Taobao proves itself again as the ultimate supply of all things you can imagine – i stumbled upon the Smart Power 4. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – 4A USB charger

One of the best things about Taobao is being able to buy export-oriented products at a fraction of their overseas retail prices. I just got hold of the Intel Compute Stick at only 299 Yuan (S$62), which is quite a steal. It is a fully functional PC designed by Intel, and it comes pre-installed with a legitimate copy of Windows. It’s next to impossible for any other sub-S$100 stick computer to include a Windows license, so, in that sense, nothing beats this. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – Intel Compute Stick